Supplier: Sandvik Coromant
End User: Henry Technologies
Henry Technologies Ltd. drills hundreds of holes on every heat exchanger plate, manufactured for customers around the globe at the company’s 11,148 sq m (120,000 sq ft) facility in Brantford, ON. To remain competitive, it must improve efficiencies, so when Randy McEachern, Sandvik Coromant’s product specialist for holemaking and tooling systems, approached the company about improving the holemaking process, Cory Hampson, machine shop supervisor at the time who has since moved into another manufacturing industry, was willing to beta test a new version of Sandvik Coromant’s CoroDrill 870.
“A portion of the heat exchanger parts have hundreds of holes per plate and we were always looking at ways to reduce production time by producing holes faster while still holding a plus or minus two thousandth of a inch tolerance with a 63 roughness (RMS) or better.”
Henry beta tested the CoroDrill 870 using a variety of geometries to determine which geometry would give them the best feeds and speeds, and the best holemaking performance. The collaborative work between Henry and Sandvik Coromant resulted in the development of the PL geometry, a special tip designed specifically for drilling holes in in low carbon structural steel plates. As of a result of the collaborative testing and development of the PL geometry for Sandvik’s CoroDrill 870, Henry Technologies became the first facility in North American to run the tooling in a production environment.
Henry Technologies uses SA516-70 and low carbon structural steel to produce its heat exchanger plates. Today, the company uses the CoroDrill 870 with the PL geometry at a penetration rate of 70 ipm.
“To run at 70 ipm, you have to have certain criteria in place, such as through-the-spindle coolant pressures of 1,000 psi and stable machine setup,” explains McEachern. “The PL geometry can run at 50 or 60 ipm so it performs well at a range of speeds and feeds, but under the right conditions, it can run as high as 70 ipm.”
Henry Technologies was formed in 1967 and serves the gas compression, refining and petrochemical process plant equipment sectors. The company designs to ASME Section VIII and holds ASME U and S stamps qualification, as well as ISO 9001 certification. SMT
